Governance

Anitha Ranjani Sampath, a power systems engineer in Bangalore and a volunteer with Hasiru Usiru’s (HU) Namma Raste Namma Ooru and Namma Metro campaigns since August 2008, filed RTI applications to obtain critical information regarding various public infrastructure projects. In an e-chat, she readily shared her experiences as below.What motivated you to request these details? During various discussions within HU, we realised that essential data that were unclear about the Namma Metro and road widening projects included the following: •  Overall expenditure, construction and execution plan •  Impact on trees – how many will be cut, when, where and why?…

Anitha Ranjani Sampath, a power systems engineer in Bangalore and a volunteer with Hasiru Usiru’s (HU) Namma Raste Namma Ooru and Namma Metro campaigns since August 2008, filed RTI applications to obtain critical information regarding various public infrastructure projects. In an e-chat, she readily shared her experiences as below.What motivated you to request these details? During various discussions within HU, we realised that essential data that were unclear about the Namma Metro and road widening projects included the following: •  Overall expenditure, construction and execution plan •  Impact on trees – how many will be cut, when, where and why?…

We live in times of massive traffic pileups on our roads and the stress that comes from simply watching long lines of vehicles stopped at intersections. With the ever increasing pressure on local authorities to relieve congestion, how did it come to pass that the BBMP-proposed link road connecting the Yeshwanthpur-Yelahanka artery to NH 7 (Bellary Road) resulted in a major litigation in the High Court?Over 4 kms of the proposed link road is to be laid through forestland inside the University of Agricultural Sciences’ GKVK campus in northern Bengaluru. The forestland itself was granted to the university by an…

We live in times of massive traffic pileups on our roads and the stress that comes from simply watching long lines of vehicles stopped at intersections. With the ever increasing pressure on local authorities to relieve congestion, how did it come to pass that the BBMP-proposed link road connecting the Yeshwanthpur-Yelahanka artery to NH 7 (Bellary Road) resulted in a major litigation in the High Court?Over 4 kms of the proposed link road is to be laid through forestland inside the University of Agricultural Sciences’ GKVK campus in northern Bengaluru. The forestland itself was granted to the university by an…

The details of the screening of the film,‘NEERUNDU NILAMUNDU', by Bala Kailasam, are as follows:Day: SaturdayDate: 10th October 2009,Time: 6:00pmVenue: ASHIRWAD, OPP. STATE BANK OF MYSORE, ST. MARK'S ROAD, BANGALORE -560001; Phone: 080-22210154About the film:The word ‘reforms' with respect to Government functioning is almost always understood only in its economic context as disinvestment and privatization. Very rarely it is understood as the reform of the functioning of the individuals within the Government, and a change in the form and style of Governance. It is taken for granted that such a mission is impossible!This film is about a group of engineers…

The details of the screening of the film,‘NEERUNDU NILAMUNDU', by Bala Kailasam, are as follows:Day: SaturdayDate: 10th October 2009,Time: 6:00pmVenue: ASHIRWAD, OPP. STATE BANK OF MYSORE, ST. MARK'S ROAD, BANGALORE -560001; Phone: 080-22210154About the film:The word ‘reforms' with respect to Government functioning is almost always understood only in its economic context as disinvestment and privatization. Very rarely it is understood as the reform of the functioning of the individuals within the Government, and a change in the form and style of Governance. It is taken for granted that such a mission is impossible!This film is about a group of engineers…

'Save GKVK' Campaign - Community ProtestDate: 10:00 am - 11:00 am, Sunday, October 11, 2009Venue: GKVK Main Gate on Bellary RoadProgram: Protest against proposed 80 feet link road through GKVK campusIssueProposed construction of a major 80 feet link road through GKVK campus entailing cutting of 3000 trees and destruction of several research plotsCurrent StatusGKVK has transferred the land to BBMP. BBMP has felled hundreds of trees and has initiated civil works. Court has issued stay order on further felling of trees. Forest department has filed a FIR and is investigating the issue. However, BBMP is still planning to carry on…

'Save GKVK' Campaign - Community ProtestDate: 10:00 am - 11:00 am, Sunday, October 11, 2009Venue: GKVK Main Gate on Bellary RoadProgram: Protest against proposed 80 feet link road through GKVK campusIssueProposed construction of a major 80 feet link road through GKVK campus entailing cutting of 3000 trees and destruction of several research plotsCurrent StatusGKVK has transferred the land to BBMP. BBMP has felled hundreds of trees and has initiated civil works. Court has issued stay order on further felling of trees. Forest department has filed a FIR and is investigating the issue. However, BBMP is still planning to carry on…

B S Yeddyurappa is a chief minister who struck out and created history of sorts recently, something few state chief ministers have managed to do. Working with his counterpart in Tamilnadu, he oversaw the long-pending unveiling of the Tamil poet-saint’s Thiruvalluvar statue in Bengaluru.This is not as easy as it may seem. Getting past strained ethnic tensions is fraught with risks anywhere in the world. In 1991 when the statue was originally due for unveiling, protests built up and tensions coincided with riots triggered by the Cauvery dispute. Kannada-Tamil tensions in Bengaluru have always simmered below the otherwise normal-seeming buzz…

B S Yeddyurappa is a chief minister who struck out and created history of sorts recently, something few state chief ministers have managed to do. Working with his counterpart in Tamilnadu, he oversaw the long-pending unveiling of the Tamil poet-saint’s Thiruvalluvar statue in Bengaluru.This is not as easy as it may seem. Getting past strained ethnic tensions is fraught with risks anywhere in the world. In 1991 when the statue was originally due for unveiling, protests built up and tensions coincided with riots triggered by the Cauvery dispute. Kannada-Tamil tensions in Bengaluru have always simmered below the otherwise normal-seeming buzz…